A lot of people are saying that 2017 was the worst year of their life . . . I wouldn't go so far to say that, I've certainly had a lot worse years than this. Honestly, 2017 has pretty much been a roller coaster year for me: it's had its share of both good moments and not so good moments, so here's a lookback at both the good and the bad of 2017:
The Good
- A below average summer and fall - certainly made up for the above average winter and spring we had, especially considering that summer and fall tend to be the seasons we're above average the most.
- Becoming Twitter and Facebook friends with one of my favorite entertainers - Kathy Greenwood, as well as Facebook friends with a number of Sesame/Muppet folks, including John Kennedy, Tyler Bunch, and Tau Bennett.
- My bestest buddy (known to everyone here as MrsPepper) and her fiance finally being able to tie the knot after so many years of planning and preparing for the day.
- Entered for a chance to win Ben Stiller's charity Dodgeball game. Didn't win, but it was still fun, not to mention I donated to a good cause (and got an Average Joe's t-shirt out of it).
- The month of September (my favorite month of the year) was finally completely normal again for the first time in three years. Did my morale good, lemme tell ya.
- I produced my first-ever (fake) documentary - a two-and-a-half minute video that took about four months to put together:
- Participating in a number of this season's Below the Frame episodes; pretty cool to get to listen to responses from Matt Vogel, Carmen Osbahr, Peter Linz, and Stephanie D'Abruzzo to my questions/comments.
- Reaching my 10-year mark on YouTube. It's a feat, but I don't have much to show for it compared to other, bigger YouTubers, but whatever.
- And finally, I had the rare opportunity to meet Alan Muraoka, Roscoe Orman, Emilio Delgado, Bob McGrath, and of course Caroll Spinney at the Knoxville Fanboy Expo - certainly the biggest highlight of my year, and perhaps even my entire, sad, Muppety life; it's been over two months since then, and I still can't stop geeking out about it.
The Bad
- Trump
- Above average winter and spring . . . not too enjoyable when a majority of winter is warm enough to be spring; Easter was the warmest I could ever remember it being.
- Trump
- I got sick four times this year: twice with bronchitis (back in the spring, and again now even as we speak), once with hand foot and mouth disease, and once with a stomach bug over Thanksgiving. It's weird because I really don't get sick too often.
- Trump
- Photobucket deciding to ransom everyone's account to try to extort a $400 annual fee out of everybody.
- Trump
- Employeed for half a year, didn't see a single penny for the work that I did, so for that and other reasons, I resigned. Employer was a tad touched in the head, but I won't go into that.
- Trump
- Another one of my dear friends (known around here as Colbynfriends) getting arrested three times this year, and all for fighting to protect the rights of he and other disabled people like him that the government is trying to take away from them.
- Trump
- My mom seriously messed up her knee in August; it left her bed-ridden for a good five weeks or so and I was taking care of her around the clock almost during that time. Her recovery has been slow and grueling, and she's finally moving around a little better, but it's been a long four months, and it still looks like a bumpy road ahead.
- Trump
- After getting a nice, long break from her and her crappy music, Taylor Swift came back with avengence. Oy.
- And, have I mentioned Trump yet?
Really don't know what 2018 holds in store, but then again, I didn't know that 2017 hold any of the above-mentioned in store; so, like with every year, all I can do is take 2018 a day at a time, and see where we all end up by this date a year from now.